Fertility treatment plummeted since sperm donors lost right to anonymity

The number of women receiving fertility treatment from donated sperm has
fallen sharply since donors lost their right to anonymity, official figures
have disclosed.

By Graham Tibbetts

6:16AM BST 26 Jun 2008

Fewer men are prepared to visit sperm banks following the change of the law in 2005, aimed at allowing children conceived through the treatment to trace their parents.

As a result the number of women receiving treatment from donated sperm has fallen by a fifth from 2,727 in 2005 to 2,107 the following year - the lowest level since record began.

Egg donation is also in decline with the number of treatments using "shared eggs" - offered by women in return for a discount on IVF - falling 40 per cent in two years.

It had been claimed by ministers and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) that the law change has not affected sperm donations.

However, the figures suggest that while the number of sperm donors has risen slightly, many are friends and relatives who donate for exclusive use, rather than to a sperm bank where they can be used by ten women.

The waiting list for sperm is now at least two years at most clinics and some couples are being forced to go abroad for donor treatment.

Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat science spokesman, said: "The Government and the HFEA have been saying everything is fine, but it isn't. There was no good reason for removing anonymity, which has led to a catastrophic drop in the number of patients treated by donor insemination.

"There was always a huge risk that this would happen, diminishing the capacity of both the NHS and private clinics to treat infertility. There are probably now thousands of untreated couples who may be forced abroad, or into the unregulated sector."

A spokesman for the Department of Health confirmed that the number of egg donors had fallen. "We are therefore preparing a regional egg donor recruitment campaign which will be launched in stages from July," he said.

Pip Morris, of the National Gamete Donation Trust, said: "We've never had enough donors. It's nothing to do with the law, it's a lack of awareness."